Perth has the reputation of being the most isolated capital city in the world. It is closer to Bali than Sydney and Melbourne and sits in the south west corner of the huge state of Western Australia.

A commitment to visit Perth is quite an undertaking. Lucky as tourists we can access all manner of travel deals that are not available to the locals - airfares in Australia are only cheap on the east coast!!

The great thing about most of the Hostels and backpackers is that they are so central to everything... in Perth city centre most of the backpackers hostels are located in an area called Northbridge which also happens to be the centre of nightlife in the centre - it's reputation varies from being sleazy (although most of the streetwalkers are now being ushered into the back streets) to being innocuous - I tend to put it at this end of the scale. I've seldom visited this sort of area in the world where I've felt so little threat from anything or anyone. Sure the occasional drunk gets out of hand, or some teenagers start flirting with the idea of being a street gang - as far as world standards go - this place is pretty tame.

This area of Perth also houses the Cultural Centre - a State Library, a Museum, an Art Gallery, an Institute of Contemporary Art, and Actor's Centre make this a vibrant area for anyone interested in the visual and performing arts. During late January and February this area also hosts an outdoor venue called the Watershed - which is actually the official venue for Festival Club during the Perth International Arts Festival. This venue can be great fun and after 10.30 each night all the performers and crews from the shows in the Festival start turning up... there is a real party atmosphere and it carries on into the wee small hours throughout the Festival season. This is a great place to rub shoulders with the famous, the not-so-famous, the soon-to-be-famous and the who-did-you-say-you-were-again's. In Feb 2000 I spent a great night in the Watershed being entertained by The Tiger Lillies from London - they had the place enthralled and after their set joined our table for a drink.

A short train ride (25 minutes) from Perth central is Fremantle, the port city. This is a really nice place to wander and take in the atmosphere. It contains some of the oldest buildings in Western Australia, although by European measures 150 years really isn't all that impressive. You can't help escaping the fact that this place was once built and occupied by convicts. In fact, two of the most popular sights are the Round House, a very simple prison sitting atop what would be some very lucrative real estate at the west end of town and the old Fremantle Prison that was in service up until a few years back. Guided tours are available, but hardly necessary, and the Prison is also used as a performance and conference venue. You can visit the gallows that were actually used to execute criminals and see the cell that was especially lined with iron studs to keep one Moondyne Joe inside the prison after he showed he could be very slippery.

I have spent quite a bit of time in Perth and it is evident that this is one place in the world where you can live a comfortable lifestyle without too much fuss and bother. The climate, the people and the way of life are very appealing and I'd happily settle down there. Another bonus I recently discovered is the ability to take cheap overnight trips to Bali - for about $350 (AUD) you can leave early in the morning, fly to Bali - put your feet up, shop, swim, surf and party for two full days before climbing back on the plane to Perth. This is an incredible diversion and huge fun!!